Viral photo... Ruby’s efforts were not in isolation and another photographer also felt compelled to pick up the baton of increasing awareness and validating the existence of breastfeeding mothers in the military. Vanessa Simmons founded the “Normalize Breastfeeding" project and in December 2016, 7 of her photographs blew up the Internet.

Viral photo... Simmons, who went on a “Normalize Breastfeeding” Tour, took photographs of breastfeeding women serving in the Army, Navy, and Air Force. According to the photographer when she posted the first of her images on Facebook in March 2015 she was disappointed by the number of “hateful, misogynistic responses.”

Viral photo... Like Ruby, Simmons also wanted to show support for active duty moms, who she said sometimes struggled to get support for nursing and pumping once they returned to work full-time. Simmons not only wanted to highlight the challenges military moms face but also show “the strength of the women who serve our country.”